- ''Kim's birthday is this Friday, right?''- ''Yes.''- ''The party preparations are done?''- ''Yes. We bought all the food and beverages.''- ''I see. What about the gift?''- ''That too, we bought it!''- ''What will you give her?''- ''With the money gathered by everybody, we bought a computer.''- ''Oh! Super!''

※ The particle ''で'' (de): the way to do the things

The particle ''で'' indicates the way to do something. It answers to the question "How?" or "With what?"

- 皆で行きました。- Minna de ikimashita.- We went all together.

- フランス語で聞きました。- Furansugo de kikimashita.- I asked him in French.

In the same way, this particle also indicates how we communicate (which media is used) or go somewhere.

- 車で来る。- Kuruma de kuru.- I come by car.

- テレビで見ました。- Terebi de mimashita.- I saw it on television.

※ The particle ''の'' (no): the ''gentle'' question

We use the particle ''の'' at the end of a sentence instead of the particle ''か'' to make the question less ''hard''. The particle ''の'' is being used by the women or the kids, but not by the men. Note that ''の'' is being used most of the time after the informal form of a verb.

- どこに行くの？- Doko ni iku no?- Where do you go?

- もう食べないの？- Mou tabenai no?- You don't eat anymore?

※ The ''-ta'' form of the verb

The ''-ta'' form is the ''past informal'' form of the verb. It is equivalent to the ''-mashita'' form (see course No.4), just like the ''dictionary'' form is equivalent to the ''-masu'' form of the verb.

The polite (formal) form

食べます / 食べました (to eat/to have eaten)

The informal form

食べる / 食べた (to eat/to have eaten)

The way to get the ''-nai'' form is different for each group of verbs.

The verbs of the 3rd group

- する (suru) => します (shimasu) => しました (shimashita) => した (shita)

- 来る (kuru) => 来ます (kimasu) => 来ました (kimashita) => 来た (kita)

- 英語を勉強した。- Eigo wo benkyou shita.- I studied English.

The verbs of the 2nd group

It's very simple: We simply replace "-ru" with "-ta".

- 食べる (taberu) => 食べた (tabeta)

- 慣れる (nareru) => 慣れた (nareta)

- あげる (ageru) => あげた (ageta)

- 日本の食べ物に慣れた。- Nihon no tabemono ni nareta.- I got used to the Japanese food.

The verbs of the 1st group

Each of the 9 endings in the 1st group is different.

- 買う (kau) => 買った (katta)

- 聞く (kiku) => 聞いた (kiita)

- 脱ぐ (nugu) => 脱いだ (nuida)

- 遊ぶ (asobu) => 遊んだ (asonda)

- 読む (yomu) => 読んだ (yonda)

- 話す (hanasu) => 話した (hanashita)

- 待つ (matsu) => 待った (matta)

- 死ぬ (shinu) => 死んだ (shinda)

- 帰る (kaeru) => 帰った (kaetta)

- 有名な人が死んだ。- Yuumei na hito ga shinda.- A famous person died.

The past negative form

We get it from the ''-nai'' form of the verb (see course No. 16).

''-nai'' => ''-nakatta''

- パーティーに行かなかった。- Pâtî ni ikanakatta.- I didn't go to the party.

- 僕の家にパソコンがなかった。- Boku no ie ni pasokon ga nakatta.- There was no computer in my house.

※ The relative subordinate clause

"Relative subordinate clause" is a slightly complex expression, but the grammar notion itself is rather simple. That clause gives an information about a noun or a nominal group. It answers to the question "What?", "Who?", ''Whom?'' or ''Which?''